The new HTC U12+ bucks the trend in the latest flagship phones that offer extreme high frame rates like 480fps and 960fps for short time frames. Instead, the phone touts 240fps at 1080p and 4k 60p as the main frame rate specs. This is competitive with the iPhone X & Samsung Galaxy S9 series where 4k at 60p is now the default offering for the UHD format on the high end and 240p at full HD on the SlowMo feature front.

This U12+ phone has dual cameras in the front and back which allow it to do interesting bokeh out of focus effects on all types of shots including video mode which may be a first. As to the quality of the effect in video, it will have to be scrutinized to see where it lands and if its good enough to use as a narrative video capture device. The phone has all the top specs of today and the camera has gathered a 103 score on the DXOMark test which is the 2nd best camera on a phone ever after the excellent Huawei P20 Pro at 109.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←

There have been some jaw-dropping slow-motion videos produced so far in 2018 and we want to showcase a small but excellent sample of them inSlow Motion Video Watch. Thank you to our readers for many of these submissions, we really appreciate your help in finding much of this footage as the sheer amount of quality material produced would make it much harder to select the good ones.

We have some incredible magnet work, weapons, military artillery, hockey, gymnastics and also the recent royal wedding in full display. It is also encouraging to see the widespread adoption of slow motion in phones as handsets like the Galaxy S9 & Xperia XZ2 start to inundate the video sites with user samples. It goes to show that good planning and a well-executed shot is possible even with time restrictions and limited hardware. Send us your samples or finds on our contact page!→ Continue Reading Full Post ←

The full specs are official now and the OnePlus 6 is now considered a flagship phone by any measure you can throw at it. It has massive memory, speed and a price that will not break the bank at just $529 USD for the smaller capacity 64GB version. It has dual cameras and 4K shooting at 60FPS, 1080p at full 240FPS, and our favorite spec 720p at 480FPS.

Gone is the 960fps spec of phones like the Samsung Galaxy S9 & Sony Xperia XZ2 but with the added benefit of shooting 1800 frames of it which translates to 60 seconds playback “1 Minute” at 30p on the OnePlus 6. So an entire usable minute of slow motion at 720p will be a welcomed addition to any slow motion fans and while quality will have to be seen and analyzed, it already makes for a better overall experience than the 0.2 seconds recording of the competition.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←

The FUJIFILM X-H1 which offers 120fps 1080p slow motion was a worthwhile effort to offer high frame rates that are usable to their video-centric base. It still was not as good as the Sony or Panasonic slow motion options due to aliasing, moire, and noise but with a little post work, it could be used with success in an edited piece. FUJI then with a firmware update for their stills flagship the X-T2 allowed the camera to now shoot the same 120fps 1080p slow motion which makes sense considering they use the same sensor on both cameras.

The Lumix TS7 by Panasonic “TS7 in the US, Canada, FT7 outside of North America” is a well-rounded package when it comes to pricing and features. It is a 4k 30/25/24 ready camera and it can go underwater 31 Meters or 102ft plus all the cool ruggedized features you might expect on a camera of this kind like being crush-proof up to 220lbs/100kg and freezeproof down to -10 °C / +14 °F. It is a real alternative to smaller action cameras like the GoPro, Xiaomi Yi 4k+ and Sony Action Cam series.

The lens is a 28–128 mm 35mm equivalent 4.6x zoom range which is quite sharp across the range as we have seen from samples. The main issue with this camera is the small 1/2.3″ BSI sensor and the fact that it packs 20MP or a resolution of 5184 x 3888px which is a little too cramped to be ideal for low light or in our view underwater performance without added bright artificial lighting. ISO goes from a low of 80 to a high of 6400 which probably is already pushing it too much. This camera would have been a better bet with a 10 or 12MP BSI sensor to maintain some edge in low light for the competition. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

The newly announced CINEMARTIN FRAN 8K Camera claims some huge numbers in terms of resolution and performance. Up to 8K (8000×6000) RAW / Uncompressed 12 Bit video capture at 24fps and up to 96fps in 2k & 1080p for high frame rates but more on that later in this post. There is only one image of the camera we were provided with and that is the RED Brain like rendering above which sports a mounting port which in the lab is fitted with a Canon EF Mount which is preferred among cinema oriented users especially if it is an active one.

FRAN also offers in the spec sheet 15.5 stops of dynamic range at 12 bit which competes directly with the best cinema cameras out there. CINEMARTIN claims the camera will come in below the competition in price while offering a true global shutter sensor with no rolling shutter distortion. Using a 4/3 sized sensor at 50MP with 48MP being used for 8k Capture it may seem overkill when it comes to low light performance. It may be able to deliver resolution levels never before seen on cinema cameras but low-light will surely be a hurdle for the camera to overcome.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←